Oman pumping investment to meet growing water demand

Oman’s Sur Independent Power Project, $1.5 billion investment to be made by a consortium comprising Marubeni Corporation, Chubu Electric Power Companies, Qatar Electricity and Water Company and Multitech LLC. Photo – Utilities-me.com

Omani utilities sector, funded by both private and foreign investors, is set to get a major boost as the construction of 16 power and water projects worth $3.1bn will increase water desalination capacity in the country, improve wastewater treatment and conservation awareness, a recent report said.

The government has recognised the need to increase local desalination capacity to meet domestic water needs, and plans for a number of new projects and expansions are already in the works, Oxford Business Group said in its latest economic update on Oman.

According to the latest seven-year statement of the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), total demand for desalinated water in the regions covered by the main interconnected system is increasing by approximately 12.5% per year, from around 86m cu metres per year in 2006 to a projected 197m cu metres in 2013. Peak daily demands are projected to reach 472,000 cu metres per day in the Muscat zone, 160,000 cu metres per day in the Sohar zone and 70,000 cu metres per day in the Sharqiya zone.

A contract to build a $400m independent water desalination plant at Ghubrah, in the Muscat Governorate, is being fiercely contested by international five bidders: Japan-based Marubeni Corporation; Singapore-based integrated water and environmental solutions provider Hyflux; Acciona Agua, a Spanish firm specialising in potable water and wastewater utility; Malakoff International, a subsidiary of the Malakoff Corporation, the largest independent water and power producer in Malaysia; and Spanish water utility firm Grupo Cobra. The facility is expected to produce 191,000 cu metres of desalinated water per day.

In an additional boost to local water production, ACWA Power Barka – the first privately funded water project in the country and run by by Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power International – was given government approval in mid-July to increase its desalination capacity by 45,000 cu metres per day.

The expansion will be a separate facility from the existing plant, but will also be located in Barka, some 65 km north of Muscat. Construction is due to begin by the end of the third quarter of 2012, and ACWA intends to begin water production by the fourth quarter of 2013, the OBG report said.

“In the medium to long term, this expansion project will prove to be a well-sought solution to balance shortfalls of current desalinated water production capacity,” Mohammad Abunayyan, the chairman of ACWA Power International, said while speaking with local media last month.

An expansion in wastewater treatment will also provide an additional boost to the local supply. Haya Water, the government-run company that handles wastewater management for the Muscat Governorate, is aiming to help combat the annual 350m-cu-metre nationwide shortage by expanding its catchment and treatment facilities, which include areas that supply storage for rain and other water runoff.

The company, which provides water to residential, commercial and government facilities in Muscat, is aiming to achieve an 80% network connectivity rate by 2018 – up from the current 22% – and to produce 220,000 cu metres of treated effluent, also known as recycled water, per day. While much of the treated effluent now goes toward watering the city’s parks and green spaces, much of the additional water will go toward cultivating local agriculture.

“The current strategy for water treatment is to integrate the full cycle of water resources in a sustainable scheme, from production, treatment and distribution to reutilisation,” Hussain Hassan Ali Abdulhussain, the CEO of Haya Water, told OBG. “As two-thirds of all Oman’s agricultural products are imported, even if the water sector can add value of 10% to helping agriculture development through water and fertilisers, this will be a substantial contribution to local farms and reduce our national dependence on importing fruits and vegetables.”

These new projects will all help to increase water treatment and desalination, and the expected tripling in the amount of treated wastewater will greatly increase the country’s ability to cultivate local agriculture, while additional desalination facilities will ensure that the supply of potable water continues to meet the needs of Omanis.

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